Thread: Brake shoe orientation

Originally Posted by drifter

Still waiting for the block to be done. He got the pistons today.

Are you going the performance route and getting the block tunnel bored and the pistons and rods all balanced to the nearest thousandth of a gram?

Originally Posted by garrycol

Are you going the performance route and getting the block tunnel bored and the pistons and rods all balanced to the nearest thousandth of a gram?

Yeah, why not?

Nah, I am actually currently going the "why doesn't he stop taking on more work than he can handle and just meet the timelines he quoted" route.

The other day I was cleaning up some 11" brakes I'm going to transplant on to my IIA SWB. The thought just struck me...

The 109 has two cylinders per drum on the front!

This means that to orientate the bleed nipples in the right way to bleed air out more easily, they probably /should/ be turned differently (at a guess?), although it shouldn't affect "performance" in the long run.

I found this picture...

that diagram is wrong.

the pistons run horizontally, if they didnt you would never get one of the pistons to bleed.

there is an additional trap to fall into on the rear and thats the orientation of the shoes. there is a leading and trailing shoe and a left and right backing plate.

mixing them up will get you brakes that work but then wont adjust correctly once the shoes are APX 50% worn or about 20% if your drums are near max oversize.

Originally Posted by Mudpiggy

The other day I was cleaning up some 11" brakes I'm going to transplant on to my IIA SWB. The thought just struck me...

The 109 has two cylinders per drum on the front!

This means that to orientate the bleed nipples in the right way to bleed air out more easily, they probably /should/ be turned differently (at a guess?), although it shouldn't affect "performance" in the long run.

I found this picture...

Thanks for that, but... as Dave says, it's not right. For one thing, the back plate won't bolt on in that orientation (hub holes are in the wrong place)

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

that diagram is wrong.

the pistons run horizontally, if they didnt you would never get one of the pistons to bleed.

there is an additional trap to fall into on the rear and thats the orientation of the shoes. there is a leading and trailing shoe and a left and right backing plate.

mixing them up will get you brakes that work but then wont adjust correctly once the shoes are APX 50% worn or about 20% if your drums are near max oversize.

oh - thanks - I haven't got to the rear yet and didn't realise there were leading and trailing shoes. I did know about the left and right backing plate - the front ones are the same - oriented for one particular side.

Stage 1/county./defender/perentine brake warning


that'll give you a heads up.

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

that diagram is wrong.

the pistons run horizontally, if they didnt you would never get one of the pistons to bleed.

there is an additional trap to fall into on the rear and thats the orientation of the shoes. there is a leading and trailing shoe and a left and right backing plate.

mixing them up will get you brakes that work but then wont adjust correctly once the shoes are APX 50% worn or about 20% if your drums are near max oversize.

Hey Dave
Got Smeg going, is the brake pad orientation the same for the SWB S3??

umm no.. if its got pads then its got disc and theres only one way they go together

yep shoe orientation is the same. the shoes are different being smaller if you have the 10inch brakes as opposed to the 11's in OEM spec.